News

A former FASB board member who is dean of Cornell University's Johnson Graduate School of Management validated the theory that CPAs need to be well-versed in technology in order to compete in the financial marketplace.Robert J.

You’ve been to sites where the first page is text, text, text, right? Well, don’t be one of those sites. Writing for the web is different than writing for print. Think about your own web surfing habits. Do you read each line? Or do you skim and hop to the content for which you are looking?So what do you need to know? First, keep your writing personalized and interesting. If your reader doesn’t see something that grabs them, they will simply click onto something else. Let your firm’s style and personality show through your writing.

Should accounting firms be concerned about performing consulting services for their audit clients? After all, auditors are in a natural position to spot inefficiencies that can wreak havoc on the bottom line. They can help a company cut the waste and grow. But should they? Does it put an accounting firm’s unbiased audit approach at risk?Most accounting firms say that it does not compromise their audit approach. There also are already safe guards in place for publicly traded companies.

If you're a CPA or accounting professional delivering financial services, then you'll want to pay attention to the results of a new study conducted by Computer Sciences Corporation that zeros in on refining customer service management techniques.The company's 12th Annual Critical Issues of Information Systems Management Study found that competition has caused companies to take a more active role in their customer's concerns.At the same time, gathering critical information on each customer, and

President Clinton is about to sign a tax bill that would, in effect, eliminate a provision used by sellers of small busineses to defer capital gains for tax purposes until the seller receives the money.Seller financing is a traditional method to buy businesses and real estate.

What? You just won an engagement that requires three more auditors and two more IT people? Yes, that’s right – pronto! Never mind that the national unemployment rate is at an all time low. What you need is a recruiting plan that works now. These recruiting strategies will help you get people in the door and then give you an advantage once you get them there. The first place you can start with a very modest investment is internally. Your employees are the best employment advertising you can buy. They are your firm’s advocates.

Okay, you’ve known for quite some time that ergonomic issues were abound, but maybe you just haven’t reached that item on your to-do list. It’s time to move it closer to the top. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently proposed an Ergonomics Program standard. After discussions in early 2000, the final version of the standard will become mandatory by year end.So what does this mean to you? Well, it means that if you don’t currently do the following things (see preliminary checklist below); you could legally be required to do so by the end of 2000.

These days, CPAs also are in the financial services business, and assisting clients in brokerage is a viable service and profitable venture.But have these professionals also taken a hard look at brokerage statements? Many are very difficult to decipher to ascertain whether a profit was made or lost.Edward Jones is an example of one firm that has taken the bull by the horns (pardon the pun) and soon will enable customers to choose from three different types of account statements.

AccountingWeb has tracked a number of stories over the past few months on Congress and the President's battles over the Federal budget.Based on recent reports, now that the budget year ended Nov. 20, not balancing the budget really isn't so terrible, after all. Among the focus is how Social Security was protected, albeit concern by Republicans and Democrats on securing the senior vote next year.Also under tremendous scrutiny was the proposed Republican tax cut of $792 billion.

Accountants have a certain knack for analyzing a situation a bit better than the rest of the world based on their training and inert ability to see the fine points. Take Gregory Peters. He saw the forest through the trees and is making a lot of money profiting from making the Web work.Peters has taken his Austin, TX-based company called Vignette and propelled it to more than $25 million in sales.

All is not well in the city by the Bay. According to sources, San Francisco City Attorney Louise Renne has called for an audit of 30 companies that were awarded more than $72 million in construction contracts for expansion of the city's airport.This audit is an effort by the attorney to determine if these companies illegaly received profits from a minority "set-aside" program.

If you play sports it’s very easy to know how you’re doing. Just check the score. In selling there is no program or scorecard. Sure, you can check your sales figures, but selling may take several calls. Unless we make a joint sales call, we have no one to ask., “How’d I do?” Until we get the order, how do we know how we’re doing? Let’s keep score in a different way.The 80/20 rule. You can tell the quality of the sales call by who is doing the talking. If your customer is doing 80% of the talking and you’re talking 20% give yourself some points.

Cookies aren’t something you bake in the oven for the holidays. They are little files that keep information on your Internet browsing history. They also can be used for some cookie-savvy sites to collect information on you – primarily the sites you visit. Cookies can be good. Sites you visit can store information unique for you so you don’t have to enter a password each time to “enter” a membership zone (think AccountingWeb and Amazon).

Nearly 40% of cell phone customers have a plan that is inappropriate for their level of usage. Contact your cellular provider and ask them to do a rate analysis on your usage and recommend the best plan available. New plans are implemented all the time, and competition is forcing the providers to be slightly more flexible in allowing you to jump in and out of plans depending on your usage.

The saga between Andersen Worldwide and Andersen Consulting continues to make the news, although negotiations are moving slower than previously expected.This week, Andersen Worldwide filed a $14.6 billion countersuit against Andersen Consulting, maintaining its position that if Andersen Consulting wants to make the split between firms permanent, it must return the "Andersen" brand name, along with the technology it uses to run its business.Andersen Consulting has gone on record by saying that a counterclaim has n

A new tax report issued by the IRS calls attention to taxpayer non-compliance with "nanny" provisions.Statistics indicate only about 300,000 of the 122 million-plus individual income-tax returns filed last year included Schedule H - the form used to pay social security and Medicare taxes.In 1999, the law mandates that anyone who pays a household worker $1,100 or more must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes through Schedule H.